A Stocking
by Midnight Unicorn
Summary: Naruto doesn't know it, but he has a secret Santa


**I don't know how it would be in Narutoverse, but I know the Japanese celebrate commercial Christmas so I don't see why our Rookie Nine shouldn't.**

_A Stocking_

Hyuuga Hinata first noticed him because of his smile. It was bright and toothy and completely out of place. He smiled widest when he pulled a prank; he smiled genuinely when he received praise, which was rare, and only from Iruka-sensei; he smiled with enviable determination when he declared himself the next Hokage; his smile was a feral grin as he fought the bullying of their peers.

So, noticing his smile, she saw it dim during the holiday season. She didn't understand; everyone else smiled more, they were even a little bit nice to him, or at least ignored him instead of hitting him.

She understood when he frowned at a discussion about Santa Claus and mysterious gifts; Hinata knew the frown meant he didn't believe, which meant he didn't believe in Santa Claus. She didn't either, but his scowl was one etched in disappointment, in the hope of a seasonal gift and nothing but empty prayers.

Now she couldn't let that stand.

When Hinata got home she dug through her closet for a plain red kimono she'd worn once before outgrowing it. Pulling it out Hinata eyed the lovely garment regretfully for a moment then laid it smooth on her floor. One even fold and an ink outline before she snuck into her parents' room for her mother's sewing kit. Carefully pinning the folds together she cut along the black marking.

Threading the needle was a challenge; first she pulled too much string and it tangled and she had to throw it aside and pull another hank, smaller. Then actually getting one end through the eye was near impossible; her Byakugan could follow the path perfectly, but her little fingers could not coordinate properly. Once that hurdle was jumped she couldn't find a knot for the thin string that would hold in the silk.

Her mother saying her name raised her tear-brightened gaze. What are you doing? she asked.

Hinata showed her clumsy attempts. Smiling softly, her mother came in and tied the knot just so. Who is this for? she asked.

Uzumaki Naruto, she whispered, muffling her sniffles. Her mother hesitated, but didn't object. Her mother showed her to turn the folds of silk around so that she would sew from the inside, helped her re-pin the two halves together, and then the stitch that would hold strongest. Her mother sat back on her heels, watching her daughter's nimble fingers flick the needle through the cloth, removing pins as she approached them.

Her small mouth pursed in a concentrated frown, brows drawn together, ignoring little pricks from the point of the needle. When Hinata finished she held it up for her mother to judge. Smiling faintly her mother turned it right side out, the crimson silk gleaming in the candle light, the stitching perfect and smooth.

She tilted her small head and examined her masterpiece; reaching for the sewing box she extracted a handful of tiny gold balls, threaded them together and attached them to the bottom of her work. At the mouth of it she embroidered _Naruto_ with her mother's help. She had to undo half of it from mistakes and fell asleep part-way through the _r_ the second time.

Her mother lifted her little girl and tucked her into bed. Coming back to the gift her mother debated whether to leave it or throw it away; she did neither and the next morning the little girl found the completed present at the foot of her bed.

Light-hearted and excited, Hinata spent her pocket money on small gifts to include. Kunai polish, a dozen coupons for free ramen, candy and chips, a couple cup ramen, a tin of hot chocolate, and—hesitantly—she included a chocolate rose. She didn't end up putting that one in.

The last stage was delivering the gift. In the end she hung it on the door knob of his apartment; a little card attached declared: _Merry Christmas, Naruto! From Santa_.

They were twelve now and she wasn't going to play ding-dong-ditch with his gift. Although she wished she hadn't rung the door bell as she stood there trembling, waiting for him to answer the door, praying he wouldn't.

"Hey, Hinata!" Naruto greeted brightly when he opened the door. "Merry Christmas."

"M-Merry Chr-christmas, Naruto-kun." she stuttered. "Um…here!" she shoved her present into his hands and turned to flee.

"Hang on, Hinata-chan!" he caught her wrist with deft swiftness. "You can come in, you know. I've got a present for you, too."

"R-really?" she couldn't believe it.

"Well, sort of. I bought a chocolate bar for everyone." he admitted sheepishly, dragging her into his apartment. "Even Sasuke-teme."

"Um, I don't think Uchiha-san likes chocolate," she mumbled, blushing self-consciously and trying not to let her gaze drift.

Naruto grinned; it was his mischievous grin. "I know."

She smiled slightly, slanting her eyes around in spite of herself. Naruto continued to chatter happily, sifting through a pile of poorly wrapped bars of chocolate for the one labeled _Hinata_. And then her gaze fell on the scarlet stocking with a cluster of bells at the toes, hanging proudly over a picture of Team Seven. Her beam of pleasure was too great to hide.

_Argh, I didn't know how to end it. Merry Christmas y'all._


End file.
